Technical Field
This invention relates to construction equipment and, more particularly, to a scraper tractor stand device for providing users with a safe means of lifting heavy construction equipment for performing repairs and maintenance work.
Prior Art
Heavy vehicles and mobile equipment are indispensable to many industrial activities, from construction to railroads. Various types of equipment move materials, till land, lift beams, and dig earth to pave the way for development and production. Over 1,000 construction workers are killed each year, many of whom would now be alive if not for the failure of a manufacturer to provide safe equipment or for the negligence of those responsible for repair and maintenance of equipment. Everything from cranes to forklifts to scaffolding and ladders can cause potentially fatal accidents.
The size and power of the machines and equipment used in the construction industry can be responsible for some of the most heinous injuries if not used carefully and professionally. Construction equipment and unsafe tools can experience mishap and failure particularly if it is overused or improperly maintained. One of the larger pieces of equipment used in the construction industry is the tractor scraper, a machine that can be risky to work on, especially when performing maintenance actions on the underside. The wheel tractor-scraper is a piece of heavy equipment used for earth moving. The rear part has a vertically moveable hopper (also known as the bowl) with a sharp horizontal front edge. The hopper can be hydraulically lowered and raised. When the hopper is lowered, the front edge cuts into the soil or clay like a cheese-plane and fills the hopper. When the hopper is full it is raised, and closed with a vertical blade (known as the apron). The scraper can transport its load to the fill area where the blade is raised, the back panel of the hopper, or the ejector, is hydraulically pushed forward and the soil or clay load tumbles out. Then the empty scraper returns to the cut site and repeats the cycle. Scrapers can be very efficient on short hauls where the cut-and-fill areas are close together and have sufficient length to fill the hopper. The heavier scraper types have two engines, one driving the front wheels, one driving the rear wheels, with engines up to 550 horsepower. As noted earlier working on the underside of a tractor scraper is risky.
Accordingly, a need remains for a device in order to overcome the above-noted shortcomings. The present invention satisfies such a need by providing a scraper tractor stand that is convenient and easy to use, is durable yet lightweight in design, is versatile in its applications, and provides a safe and effective means of lifting and supporting heavy construction equipment so that repairs and maintenance may be performed.